Garden Clubs: Cabarrus Early College

Sometimes we intentionally choose gardening, and sometimes gardening finds us. For the Cobra Service Club at Cabarrus Early College of Technology, the latter is true. The students did not sign up for a garden club, but rather a service club. However, as the club considered how to serve others, gardening and its potential impact on the school and local community is one direction they chose.

• School name: Cabarrus Early College of Technology
• Club name: Cobra Service Club
• Club advisor: Julie Loukos

Q: How long have you had a garden club? 

A: Last year (2022-23) was our first year as a garden club! We started small (quite literally) with microgreens and moved on to kale and radishes in the garden. We successfully grew sweet potatoes and harvested them in September.

Q: When does the garden club meet?

A: The Cobra Service Club meets every Friday from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. The club’s garden committee meets at least once per month to plan the garden tasks.

Q: Who gets to be in the garden club? 

A: Last year, service club members working on the garden had to be in at least 10th grade and have previous service club experience. However, this year we have opened the membership to anyone in the school who is interested. The garden planning committee is selected from the membership based on participation.

Q: How do members join the garden club? 

A: At our school, every student is required to be in a club. Clubs are built into our school day on Fridays. This year, we have 27 members. 

Q: How does the club use the garden? 

A: The club uses the garden as a service project to impact the local community, specifically that of the school. The garden stemmed from two winning projects from Sophomore Seminar class presentations where students compete with business proposal-style service ideas.

Any club or class is allowed to visit the garden! Our art club is considering decorating the brick around the garden.

Q: What does the club do with the harvest? 

A: The club uses the garden harvest to go to students in need throughout the Early College program in Cabarrus County Schools. We partner with our social worker, and she identifies and delivers the produce to those families. We purchased generic reusable bags that help keep it discrete, too, as students were concerned about drawing attention to the need of selected students.

Q: Do you use volunteer groups? 

A: Doug Vernon from NC State University has helped us. He was a phenomenal resource in helping us learn about gardens!

Q: Do you utilize fundraisers or sponsorships to support the garden? 

A: We hold an annual fundraiser at Papa Robb’s Paradise Ice for the general club, which funds some parts of the garden project. For this particular project, we had students develop a proposal to ask Lowe’s Home Improvement to partner with us financially. Students developed a presentation, researched necessary materials, and practiced the presentation before delivering it to the manager at Lowe’s. We were granted financial support thanks to their hard work and Lowe’s generosity!

Q: What are the benefits of the garden club? 

A: The benefits of the garden club are numerous! Students gain real world service experience by learning about things like food deserts and need in their local community. They learn skills necessary for success in the business world, such as how to develop a proposal and apply for a grant. They learn research skills, both in databases and in observational research. For example, our first harvest had surprisingly small vegetables. This inspired a group to propose composting as this year’s service project. They developed an idea and a plan for implementing compost in the hopes of improving the quality of the harvest. 

The students were so incredibly excited when they harvested the sweet potatoes! They were shocked that they weren’t the same size as what they see in the stores, but so many of them were proud of themselves because they were definitely more substantial than the radishes. I would have to say that their pride in themselves for growing something was the most memorable part of the whole thing!

What a great idea these high school students had in choosing to serve their peers by sharing healthy fresh local produce from a garden they planned, planted, tended and harvested.